Ripples
by Ria
Summary: A single drop can cause ripples, and ripples can widen and change everything. [A series of linked drabbles.]


**Ripples**  
**Author:** Ria  
PG-13  
**Disclaimer:** Trinity Blood isn't mine. That doesn't mean I wish it could have been. sigh  
**Spoilers:** General spoilers based on the characters - it's all information you can find in the threads here.  
**Summary:** A single drop can cause ripples - and ripples can widen and change everything.  
**Author's Note:** It would figure that my first TB fic would be a set of linked drabbles, of all things! That said, the idea around these drabbles is that a single moment, a single event - be it a thought or an action - can change everything and affect even those around you. Let me tell you, keeping all of these to 100 words took some serious editing and rewriting! Also, there is a chance that some facts may be wrong in this, for which I sincerely apologise. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy them!  


****

**  
Ripples**

**  
Puppet God**

He's important, but because they wish him to be.

He'll be a great leader, the leader of the new people of Mars. The people will thank him later, they tell him. They're already in awe of him and why not, they assure him earnestly, for he is stronger and more intelligent.

They look to him like he is a god, but he is a puppet.

They called him Cain because he was the first son of Adam and Eve, he who built the first city. But that is not his true namesake.

After all, Cain was also the first murderer.

**  
She**

As she grew up, she remembered being told that girls would never be as important as boys. Boys would always be stronger than girls, and smarter. Francesco always sought to remind her of that.

People whispered about them because they were illegitimate, but wasn't it a shame because the two of them would go so far!

Then the vampires came.

Before that, women only became nuns. Before her, there had never been a female Cardinal. Francesco never approved, but together they were an unstoppable force in the Vatican.

They began to whisper that she, Caterina Sforza, would change the world.

**  
The Wanderer**

The past is difficult to remember because it seems like something he made up.

No one liked him over nine hundred years ago. He couldn't blame them. He liked no one- he was the one who was against the world.

Then he almost died and Lilith saved him.

Before her, he didn't care if humans lived, died, or what their chances of survival were like. But she cared- she always cared, too much.

"The minus element," _he_ called her, holding up her head.

He was called after his namesake Abel, the pilgrim who will always wander, repaying for his sins.

**  
Little Sister**

He was never taught to hate her, his sister, but he had grown up being told that he would always be better, and that mindset stuck.

But then she started to show her intelligence and suddenly their father was showing an interest in her as well and-

The vampires came, and he hated them from the beginning.

Following her mother's death, Caterina began to hurry through her education, catching up to him. She became a nun, but that wasn't enough.

Francesco had fought long and hard for what he now had. He wouldn't let her take it away from him.

**  
Sacrifice**

Before her, there had been no one. Caterina was fifteen when they had met at university, a prodigy child whose family had also been killed.

They whispered that Caterina would most likely follow in her father's footsteps, bringing the Vatican into a new age against the Empire. It was suddenly difficult not to hope.

It did not seem foolish to almost die for Caterina, not when the future suddenly seemed real.

But Kate still forgets sometimes that she is not really physically there. Caterina never says anything, but Kate knows that she knows, and somehow that helps lesson the pain.

**  
Blood Ties**

He grew up knowing that his brother and sister deserved great respect, especially Sister, who was nicer to him than Brother and seemed to understand him more.

He didn't immediately understand what being the legitimate son meant, but even when he did it meant nothing. Brother and Sister were older and smarter: they would bring the family glory, not him.

They did not agree. Apparently, true blood counted more than intelligence and strength.

He sits on the throne and feels only fear. He wants to hide, he wants to be free.

Instead, he is Pope Alessandro XVIII until he dies.

**  
Mother**

Later, she would forget that it all started because of her.

She didn't find the ship, but she discovered the bacillus and the nanomachines. She researched, she guessed, and she administered- she changed them all. Truly, it began because of her.

She no longer knows whether she deserves forgiveness or not.

When they reached Earth again, after so long and utterly changed, she was alone- Lilith was dead, as was Cain, and Abel had disappeared. They looked to her, because she was one of the leaders and she was all they had.

She, Seth Nightlord, became their mother in truth.

**FINIS**


End file.
